MPs Want Urgent Rail Meeting

20 July 2016, 07:37

Brighton Pavilion MP, Caroline Lucas and the MP for Hove, Peter Kyle say they are trying to get an urgent meeting with the rail minister today after
scenes of dangerous overcrowding at Brighton station last night.
picture from @michael_taggart

People took to social media to describe being pushed up against barriers and railings as swarms of beach-goers trying to get home packed onto the station concourse.

Gates had to be locked and police called to manage the crowds.

Signalling problems around Gatwick and a sink hole on the line up to London bridge caused extra delays and cancellations.

Meanwhile train services have resumed after the 13ft deep sinkhole was filled in.

All four lines between East Croydon and London Bridge were closed after the hole was spotted on Monday morning by a resident living next to the track in Forest Hill, south-east London.

A number of Southern and Thameslink services were cancelled or diverted while engineers worked to mend the hole.

Thames Water said a sewer under the track had collapsed and described the repair operation as ``extremely complex''.

The problem section of pipe was located and sealed to divert the water so the hole could be filled in with concrete and stones.

The line reopened on Wednesday morning after test trains were run overnight to make sure it was safe for passengers.

Network Rail apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Some passengers had expressed their frustration at the delays to their journeys on social media.

Jo Feldman told Southern to ``get a grip of your issues'' while Manick Govinda said it was ``an appalling service''.

But Paola Bassanese took a more light-hearted approach, offering to ``bring (a) bucket, spade and gravel and fill it up''.